


Well This is New

by UndertaleTrashBin



Series: Mini Skelebros Aboveground [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Babybones, Gen, Homelessness, Kid!Papyrus, Kid!Sans, sad stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-06 14:56:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6758704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UndertaleTrashBin/pseuds/UndertaleTrashBin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>THIS IS AN AU INVOLVING BABYBONES</p><p>ok now that I've caught your attention</p><p>This is an AU in which Sans and Papyrus were kids when Frisk broke the barrier and, having made friends with Frisk along the way, are among those that first go to the surface. However Humans weren't so happy to see monsters, adjusting to life on the surface is gonna be hard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Sky Among Other Things

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! In case you didn’t read the summary this is an alternate universe where Sans and Papyrus were kids in the underground and is primarily about how monsters adjust on the surface after the barrier breaks. Alphys/Undyne is not heavy in this first little fic of the series, however it will be making an appearance quite heavily in the next ones.
> 
> If you follow my other fics- yes this is where i have been and yes i will get back to The King's Pupil buuuuut I came up with this au and it was too cute to pass up! Enjoy!
> 
> Please be aware that this fic is part of a series! Because of that, the story won't officially end at the end of this fic, in fact, most of the fun stuff REALLY starts in the second one :D

The sunlight that hit them on the surface was overwhelming. It was warm, almost like staring down into the lava of Hotland, but not quite so dangerous. The odd group of monsters stared at it, for most it was the first time they’d ever seen the fabled sun, but for others it brought back memories of a distant, simpler time. Papyrus, being only seven, glanced with slight confusion between the awed faces of his new friends.

“Sans? What is that floating ball?” He gripped Sans’s hand strongly, it was strange to see something new after living your entire life with such limited space. The landscape was  quite beautiful, filled with vivid green plant life and the speckled outskirts of a city far below them. Sans gave a laugh and tore his eyes away from the sun to look at his brother.

“we call that ‘the sun’, my friend.” They went back to staring as Frisk turned away to talk about the important adult stuff, mostly about what was going to happen on the surface with Asgore and Toriel. Sans bumped Pap with his shoulder affectionately, and Papyrus blinked, looking to his nine year old brother questioningly.

“you’ll burn your eyes out if ya stare at it too long.” His tone was mostly teasing, but Papyrus’s face scrunched up in annoyance. The conversation had drawn some of the group’s attention back to them again.

“Sans! We don’t have eyes!” Toriel let out a hearty laugh, Undyne snorted at the kids’ antics, and Alphys giggled gleefully at them. “What?! We don’t!” Papyrus insisted, glancing between the older monsters in frustration. Technically he was right, they didn’t have eyes that could be damaged by staring at the sun.

“HAHA! Kid, you’re great!” Undyne fondly gave him a noogie on her way over to the King and Frisk. Alphys followed just behind, ready to talk about their plan. With a pout, Papyrus turned to back to the sun, murmuring under his breath that he’d had a point. They stared for a moment before Sans let out a sigh and took a seat.

“Lazybones! Can’t you stand for more than a minute?” There wasn’t any real harshness behind his tone and Sans just giggled before patting the ground next to him. Just out of spite Papyrus continued standing, though he knew he’d give in before long. They had a moment to themselves, everyone else distracted with Frisk potentially becoming an ambassador.

“i could, what’s the fun in that?” Sans responded, spreading out on the ground. Papyrus responded with a scoff, but relented and sat down next to his brother anyway.

“Sans, are we going to go back to Waterfall after this?” Nervously picking at his gloves, Papyrus frowned. He was hopeful that they could have a new life up here, but not without Sans of course. Sans shifted uncertainly for a moment before looking out over the valley again.

“i don’t know, bro. the surface could be hard to live on without.. y’know...” Eager to avoid stating it bluntly, Sans gave an awkward shrug. They didn’t have parents, neither of them could even remember if they’d had them at one point. Papyrus just nodded at him, worry settling between them. If they were bad off underground, how could they do any better on the surface? Not reading the tense atmosphere, Frisk walked over and wiggled between the two skeleton brothers in order to sit down. Sans let out an undignified snort and Papyrus giggled as they were shoved out of the way. It wasn’t hard, neither brother weighed a lot. 

“Are you guys gonna move to the surface with us?” Frisk asked, taking one of each of the skeleton’s hands. Sans’s hands were tiny, almost like a toddler’s, but the texture of bone always interested Frisk. The bones were so delicate and looked like they could just pop off at any time, not that they would try to do so. Papyrus’s hands on the other hand(heh) were always hidden in his gloves. The cloth provided a nice cushion, and Frisk could use the comfort at the moment. The brothers exchanged looks at their question before Sans just shrugged. Frisk probably assumed it was their mysteriously misplaced parents that would decide, but as the older brother of their family unit of two, it was really Sans that had the choice.

“why not?” He spoke, looking to Papyrus as if asking him for permission. The younger nodded in delight, encouraging Sans to keep talking. “ ‘s not like we can avoid you humans forever.” He grinned teasingly at Frisk and they stuck their tongue out in retaliation. The kids fell into a comfortable silence after that as the sun slowly made its descent in the sky. It didn’t hurt to look at, Sans decided, despite what his astrology books had told him. Frisk seemed to mind a little more; flopping back onto the hard ground to stare at the few wisps of clouds the mostly clear sky had to offer. Eventually the adults broke away from their little group and Toriel took a seat beside Sans. He glanced at her and grinned broadly, almost mischievously, showing off his tooth gap. She chuckled at him and pinched his surprisingly malleable cheek. The two were already great friends, having bonded over puns through the door over a year ago.

“Ready, punk?” Undyne spoke authoritatively from behind them as Alphys took a seat beside Papyrus, smiling at him nervously. Frisk stood up and brushed themself off, Pap turned to them.

“Where are you going? Am I coming??” He sounded eager, and Undyne somewhat awkwardly looked down at him.

“Nah, kid, this is official guard-king-ambassador business.” That only made Papyrus pout more, but he accepted the excuse reluctantly.

“You’ll g-get there one d-day Papyrus!” Alphys spoke affectionately, patting him on the back. He had been very encouraging when she decided to come clean, the little sucker was just a ball of sunshine to have around. It made you want to comfort him when he looked even the least bit sad. Pap nodded, pushing out his chest proudly as he recovered.

“Yes! After all I am very great!!” This prompted another round of giggles and Frisk patted him on the head as they walked away. Sans looked up at Toriel questioningly, wanting to ask where they were off to, but she just shrugged at him. Asgore and Undyne began making their way down the mountain with Frisk in tow.

“Do you think the humans will want to be our friends?” Papyrus asked, a bit out of the blue as he watched them make their way down the mountain of green trees. Eventually the group would wander to far off and they wouldn’t be able to see them, but for now Undyne’s hair was like a beacon in the greenery. 

“dunno pap, if they’re anything like frisk i’m sure they’ll love you.” Sans brought his legs up and crossed them, his eyes never really left the sky for more than a few moments. It really was pretty enamoring; almost dizzyingly endless and a shockingly light blue. He couldn’t wait for night to fall, oh man, that would be the best. Maybe they could stay out here all night an-

“What are you thinking about?” Toriel asked, watching Sans more than the sky. The kid was just so amazed, it seemed like a rare thing that he would really be this impressed. Something about Sans just made you think he was composed and calm, the kind of kid that would laugh things off and never really lose his cool.

“what it will look like at night.” Sans sighed happily, almost dreamily. “it’s supposed to be like the wishing room, right?” He brought his hands up under his chin as he watched the clouds move in the slight breeze. His comment made both Alphys and Toriel laugh.

“Better.” Tori responded after a few moments. Sans’s eyes lit up in curiosity and interest. He reminded her of what it was like to teach, seeing the wonder of the world swirl in his eyes.

“How could it be better?! The wishing room is the coolest part of Waterfall!!” Papyrus interrupted, huffing skeptically. Waterfall was his home, certainly one of his favorite parts of the Underground.

“Oh, trust me, it is.” Toriel spoke, winking at him. There were plenty of puns to be made, but after she and Sans had hit him with so many she figured he deserved a break. The company was comfortable, despite not entirely knowing each other yet. They all knew Frisk had brought them together for good. It gave them HOPE.

 

They watched as the sun fell, painting the sky in beautiful reds and yellows. Alphys was quick to take pictures, undoubtedly posting them on Undernet. Worry began to settle as there was no sign of their little scout ambassadors returning, but they held out hope. Perhaps the town was just further off than initially expected. Just as the sky began to show hints of a deep navy blue, they saw a group trudging up towards them. Alphys spotted them first, pointing the movement out to Toriel, but they quickly realized there were certainly more than the three that had left. Even Papyrus felt a bit of dread at the sight. Surely they were friends?

“Monsters!” The voice was accusatory and loud as the humans pushed through the shrubbery below. “You are under arrest, stay where you are.” The leader of the group shouted up to them, spitting the word monsters as if it were a slur. Toriel stood suddenly, protectively. Papyrus shivered slightly, worry filling his features. Had they done something wrong? He was about to ask Sans why the humans seemed angry when the older hushed him and began scooting back towards a dense, bushy area beside the underground’s opening. They weren’t fast enough, pausing when the human group came back into sight. After all, they said to stay where they are, but hopefully they wouldn’t notice? The humans stood across from the four of them, the leader spoke again. “For trespassing into this country you are all under arrest.” Sans stepped in front of Pap who clinged to him in fear. Trespassing? This was their mountain, the humans literally cut off this part of the world to  _ seal them in _ . Sans immediately felt a righteous, judgmental anger light up within himself and his eye must have been glowing with magic because Toriel shot him a nasty look. He quickly calmed his magic down. This was supposed to be peaceful.

“You would have me leave my kingdom unprotected?” The ex-Queen spoke defiantly, voice laced with an authority the group hadn’t heard from her before. Her eyes flared with the promise of a fight. The shouting policeman shifted uncomfortably, taking a moment to speak to the group. Murmurs just below their line of hearing came from the team of policemen.

“Fine!” He spoke finally. “You may return to your kingdom, but the rest of these guys are to be taken down to the station.” Fear filled Sans as he glanced up to Tori, she looked uncertain, but the threat of so many humans was too much for now. The station? Under arrest? Papyrus’s grip on the back of Sans’s shirt tightened in fear. Apologetically, she looked back at the boys.

“What is it you want with them, anyway?”

“We are not required to say,” The human snapped suddenly, bringing a hand to their belt, “If you do not go we will have to take you in as well.” Toriel seemed taken aback by this and began taking steps toward the underground again.

“They are children. Please be gentle.” Her voice softened, more a request than an order. This, too, made the policeman seem uncomfortable. Toriel finally turned and walked back into the underground, shooting Alphys and the boys one last look before disappearing into the dark cave.

The humans acted quickly, the first officer securing Alphys, assuming she would be the most trouble. A man grabbed Sans’s arm harshly, nearly yanking it out of its socket while putting cuffs on his wrists behind his back. Sans didn’t bother to mention he could easily slide his wrists out of them or use magic- it didn’t seem like a good idea. He growled when they treated Papyrus just as roughly though, tearing the younger’s hands from his hoodie before clamping the wrists in a matching pair of handcuffs. The man holding Sans’s arms was not going to put up with even a hint of struggle and pulled up on his arms sharply, threateningly, almost knocking Sans over in the process. He sucked in air at the threat to his shoulder sockets and drop all signs of struggling. These guys weren’t messing around. Papyrus whimpered as they lead the three of them down the mountain, setting a fast pace. None of the officers were particularly gentle. Alphys kept herself under control, internally panicking for not only the small children behind her but for what these people had done with her girlfriend. If they were willing to be so rough with innocent kids there’s no telling what they’d do with a fully grown woman constantly looking for a fight. They walked in mostly silence, it was nearly dark out now. The policemen murmured quietly amongst themselves, but any time one of the monsters began to talk they shot them deadly glares. It worried Sans that he couldn’t even look at Papyrus to see how he was doing, if he tried the officer roughly pushed him forward.

The weren’t even half way down the mountain when Sans kicked at a root, trying to stop their pace. It only successfully got him to trip, half dragged by the policeman’s pace. As best as he could manage, he shoved his feet into the ground, barely even kicking up dirt as the pace wasn’t stopped at all. It didn’t help that he didn’t have any real meat on his bones to weigh him down, so he resorted to yelling.

“stop!” He yelled out, trying to pull his arms away. The grip only tightened, painfully threatening to crack the bone. Papyrus winced, able to see it all happen. “that hurts!” He twisted against the grio again, to no avail. “i said  _ s t o p!”  _ The threatening tone brought the group to a tense hault. The guard, past his limit of shit he had to deal with, pulled his baton and swiftly beat the back of Sans’s skull with it. A sickening ‘crack’ sound echo through the valley and Sans dropped like a ton of bricks. Alphys gasped, having tried to turn and see, there was no way that had been good for him. Papyrus called out for him in a sob.

“ _ SANS!!!”  _ His voice came out screechy, the policeman in front of Papyrus began to pick up his now unconscious brother. “Why did you do that?!” Papyrus sobbed pathetically, stumbling under the push the officer behind him gave. “He only has one HP!” His voice cracked in fear, wet with his tears.

“Shut  _ up. _ ” The harsh words were the only response he got from his brother’s attacker. The rest of the walk down the mountain was only interrupted by Papyrus’s crying, he didn’t bother trying to be quiet with it either.

At the bottom of the mountain cars littered a street that crossed through the valley, effectively blocking the road. You could see a town not too far off, it looked pretty big. Papyrus would have been impressed by all the sights if he wasn’t so concerned for Sans. He lost track of the officer carrying him when the group split, each officer going to their own cars. A short protesting noise fell from his mouth as the officer shoved him into the back of the car and buckled him in. Before the door shut he caught a glimpse of Alphys being put into the car ahead of him. He swung his head wildly to try and pinpoint his brother, arms straining painfully against the snug cuffs. Unable to find him in the sea of officers and cars, he choked out a sob and settled into the kinda awkward angle having his arms secured behind him in the car offered. He was panicking, hyperventilating as the car began to move. The officer didn’t bother to address the wailing child in his backseat.

________________________________

 

Undyne was  _ furious.  _ She had every right to be. Hours had passed after they set foot in town. Humans had reacted so horribly to them, immediately calling the aboveground equivalent of the royal guard. These guys hadn’t been gentle, and she wasn’t the type to be man handled without a fight. A prominent bruise was settling on the left side of her face where one of them punched her. She had only ceased struggling when Asgore calmly told her to go quietly, she wasn’t happy with the satisfied look the officer gave her when she listened. Even Frisk had been taken somewhere, they hadn’t struggled at all. Maybe they knew these guys? Undyne doubted such a kind hearted child would personally know these asshats. Currently, she sat fuming in anger in some freezing cell like an animal, legs crossed as she sat on the small cot they’d provided. The guardsmen had been hounded with questions about who they were, where they came from, what their intentions were, and whether or not there were more of them. Frisk had answered and given away that the rest of the group was waiting for their return on the mountain, but then again, the child had also insisted policemen were only trying to help them so Undyne tried not to hold it against them. 

In hindsight, she didn’t really know why she expected anything other than this outcome. Humans were horribly violent and uncaring creatures, even if Frisk was an exception. It wasn’t until Alphys was shoved into the cell with her that she relaxed at all, but it didn’t last long when she heard the wails of Papyrus’s blubbering echo through the jail. Undyne’s fins flared out at the pained sounds and she grabbed Alphys from the officer’s arms, holding her protectively to her chest. The cell locked loudly and the guard moved away, seemingly giving them some privacy temporarily.

“What happened?” Her voice much more calmly than she felt, putting a gentle edge to it out of concern for Alphys.

“S-so m-mu-much,” Alph looked like she wanted to cry too, but she took a deep and shaky breath instead, “T-Toriel returned t-to the Underg-ground to t-temporarily r-rule. S-Sans put up-p a f-fi-fight and th-they just HIT him! H-he was unc-conscious w-when they t-took him ou-out of the car.” Undyne stared at her searchingly, anger and the smallest amount of pride flaring up inside of her. Sans was just a kid, how could these creeps do that?! She  _ was _ slightly surprised the kid had put up a fight with how lazy Papyrus always said he was, though.

“I guess that explains Pap’s crying...” She huffed angrily and hugged Alphys tighter. It bothered her that they might split up the brothers, especially if Sans was potentially injured, but it wasn’t like she could do anything about it. Acting out with magic right now would only make things worse, despite how much she wanted to, and oh man did she want to kick some human ass.

“S-sans wasn’t d-du-dust... dusting, th-though. I th-think he’ll be a-alright...” Alphys paused and took several deep breaths, calming down. “Where’s F-frisk?” She asked, glancing around then settling on Undyne’s face.

“I’m not sure. I think they’re questioning them and Asgore, these guys seem to respect Asgore for some reason.” They fell silent and Alphys buried her nose in Undyne’s shirt, Papyrus’s hiccups continuing to echo through the hall.

________________________________

 

Papyrus had the freedom of his arms back, the officer had unlocked the handcuffs and shoved him into the cell roughly. He landed hard, but he was more concerned for his brother, turning to stare as another guard walked in with Sans in his arms. Gasping through his tears, he watched them toss Sans onto the single cot in the cell carelessly. Papyrus took in a sharp breath at the sight of his injured brother, scooting close to the cot quickly. The officer swiftly walked out, keeping his eye on Papyrus as he went and slammed the cell door shut, locking it audibly behind him. Not that it mattered, once Sans was awake they could escape at any time with a shortcut.

The cement floor was freezing, but if there was one thing the kid was used to, it was cold nights. At least they had a bed, it was more than Waterfall provided them. Sans groaned quietly when Papyrus adjusted his position to a more comfortable one. He gently set the bruising head back on the cot. How a skeleton bruised he didn't know, but it wasn’t uncommon for the brothers to have some sort of bruise or scrape at any given time. No dust came away when Papyrus pulled his hand back, so he knew Sans wasn’t at immediate risk of dying. A sigh fell from his mouth felt in relief, exhausted. Just wanting to sleep, he scooted Sans over on the cot slightly. It seemed to have been meant for a full grown monster, or more likely a human, so it wasn’t hard for him to lay next to his brother with room to spare. Knowing he probably shouldn’t, Papyrus fell asleep very quickly. All the emotions, crying, and the long hike down here had worn him out. The surface was not turning out to be a friendly place, but he held onto the hope he had as he drifted off.


	2. Humans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the good ol' station

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Juuust so you guys know cops aren't the bad guys in this series- Just a few are assholes who don't know how to respond to fear. Like that asshat that hit Sans. He's a jerk.
> 
> No promises for when the next chapter for this will be up but SOON. Probably over the weekend if I'm honest.
> 
> I meant to get this out earlier but i came home and slept for three hours C: death is upon us. We enter finals week.

Sans woke up surprisingly warm. His head ached, momentarily wondering where he was. No place he knew had a brick ceiling like this, the air was stale and uncomfortable, but he could feel Papyrus pressed up against his side. Slowly, he sat up. Stars still swam behind his vision despite going slowly, and he suddenly remembered being hit. Trying to calm down, he breathed deeply and slid out of the bed, doing his best to not stir Papyrus. There was no telling how long they had been there, but there were lights shining brightly in the hall. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the hall, no one was in the cell across from him either.

“alphys?” He called out, raising his voice more than usual. “undyne?!” He could hear someone shifting around, followed by footsteps.

“Sans?” A voice called back, it sounded like Undyne, slightly gruffer and louder than Alphys.

“yeah.” Sans sighed out in relief. “where are we?!” Pressing his face against the bars, he tried to look down the hall, he couldn’t see the end to the left, but the sight to the right was a dull wall.

“I think they called it a “Police Station”, how are you holding up? Heard ya’ got knocked out.”

“i’ll live.” He punctuated the sentence with a slight grunt, more in annoyance that the officer had actually knocked him out than in any actual pain. “how long have we been here? paps is asleep.”

“Few hours, Alphie fell asleep too.” Sans snorted at the nickname, they were so cute it was gross. “I’m surprised you’re up already, actually. You’re tougher than I thought, punk.”

“thanks. when pap wakes up i can use magic to get u-” the thought was interrupted by Undyne shushing him loudly.

“I’m pretty sure they’re watching us, as much as I’d love to hear what you were about to say.” He felt kinda like an idiot for not thinking of that, if Alphys had access to monitoring tech in the underground there was no way they didn’t have it up here

“where’s frisk? and the king?” Changing the subject seemed like a good idea, Sans could hear Undyne’s relief when she responded.

“Not sure, I  _ think _ they’re questioning them, but that’s just my best guess.” The conversation was abruptly ended by a door slamming open loudly. Sans winced, the sound was loud and sudden, it made his head pound. It also woke Papyrus up, who panicked for a moment before realizing Sans was already awake and hadn’t just been taken away.

“Sans what ar-”

“shhhh.” He held a finger over his permanent grin and walked back over to the cot to sit down. Not wasting a moment, Papyrus gripped him tightly around the waist in a hug. They comforted each other, wincing when an officer stopped in front of their cell.

“The little one, we’re going out.” That made both of the skeletons pause in confusion. Did he mean the physically smaller Sans or did he mean the younger Papyrus? Both boys stood, much to the man’s confusion. He pointed to Papyrus, “You stay here.” Worry passed Paps’s features, Sans sent him a reassuring look. The policeman looked older, friendlier, and almost apologetic. Nonetheless he was growing impatient with them, so Sans hurried this along and took a few steps towards the door.

“take a nap or somethin’ bro, i’ll see ya soon.” Knowing full well that he might be separated from Pap, he didn’t promise to come back. He knew not to make promises he couldn’t keep. Sans stepped toward the bars, awkwardly standing by the door.

“Put your hands through the bars.” He obeyed quickly, cringing when he noticed the tightness of this pair of cuffs, they seemed to have found a smaller pair. The man was gentle though, and even as he opened the door there wasn’t the anger behind it. Sans was still on edge, but at least the grip on his arm wasn’t painful. When he turned, letting himself be lead, the guard gasped suddenly. Sans winced when a large hand gently pushed his head forward, not bothering to warn him.

“Who did this to you?!” The man sounded legitimately upset and let Sans’s head fall back. Sans shrugged, it wasn’t like the policeman had introduced himself. “Jeez kid, I heard they’d hit ya’ but I didn’t think it’d be that bad. No wonder Willy wants to see ya’.” Frightened didn’t begin to describe Sans, but he kept the grin on his face anyway. No sense in showing just how scared you really are, only made adults think you were weak. They passed right by Undyne and Alphys, Sans shot them a wink as he was lead by. It may not be the best time for humor but he was nothing if he wasn’t comedic. He heard Undyne growl at them, but if it phased the policeman he didn’t show it. 

They exited into a more open room where a lot of policeman stood around, they weren’t there for long before the man pushed him into another room. It looked like a movie, stopping Sans in his tracks. To his right was a mirror, and if the detective movies he occasionally saw were any indication, it was a two-way for outside observation. Two chairs sat on each side of the table. Man, Pap would love how  _ human _ everything was. It was just like anime. Sans took a seat when the guard gestured to the chair that faced the mirror, he felt more excited than worried. This was all so new! The guard that lead him in didn’t take a seat.

“Willy will be here in a bit, he’s questioning that goat fellow right now.” Sans just nodded, playing with the handcuffs idly. “So... Are you really a skeleton, kid?” The man looked genuinely curious, Sans snorted in reply.

“i mean, yeah? what else would i be?”

“Phew, boy, you could be a kid playin’ a prank on us with your friends out there.” The man suddenly seemed exhausted, Sans didn’t ask about it.

“that seems like a bad idea if you guys are known to hit people.” It was the cop’s turn to snort.

“Somehow that’s never prevented pranks before. You seem like a good kid, despite this little predicament. I’m sorry you got caught up in it.” Sans shrugged carelessly.

“ ‘m more worried ‘bout my bro.” It wasn’t really a response he cared if the officer heard.

“The other little skeleton? He was real worried boutcha, cried the whole way down the mountain apparently.” That made Sans cringe, mostly in worry. Poor Pap, he was just a kid, why were they doing this? The policeman seemed to read his anger. “Hey, don’t worry about it, he wasn’t hurt and we’re trying to get you two processed first.” Despite feeling somewhat appreciative about that, he was more irritated they were putting them through this in the first place. The uncomfortable silence was broken when the door opened again and a large, put together looking man walked in. Sans tried not to instinctively curl away, anyone that could overpower him so greatly was frightening. The officer went to leave.

“Oh! Kid, my name’s Dupoir if you need a pal cop.” He winked at Sans, who finally recognized he was truly trying to make an effort to be kind. Sans’s grin widened a bit and he nodded.  _ dupoir.  _ He made a quick note of it in his mind, who knows when a human friend could come in handy? The person in front of him he assumed was named “Willy” began adjusting papers and looked Sans in the eye. His pupils shrank instinctively, fearful.

“What’s your name?” He asked, gazing at Sans with curiosity rather than disgust or fear. It wasn’t a bad start.

“m’ names sans, sans the skeleton.” Willy stared at him in awe, startled.

“... Did you not open your mouth to talk?”

“what? oh, nope.”

“How?”

“uh magic? it’s not like i have vocal chords.”

“Oh.” He cleared his throat, and the tense air cleared up with it. These guys really didn’t even know about monsters’ existence. “So... You had a run in with an officer.” Sans snorted.

“that’s one way to put it.”

“He said you struggled, is that what happened?”

“he was hurting me, so i asked to stop.”

“And he didn’t?”

“don’t think i’d be talking about it if he did. i could have slipped out of the cuffs at any time, i wasn’t trying to escape.” Sans rolled his eyes in annoyance, omitting his teleportation power. They didn’t need to know he was capable of leaving at any time. The comment seemed to trouble Willy.

“Alright, I’m sorry about that. No one was really sure what you guys were going to do... Anyway, what are your intentions for your time on the surface?”

“hey, no bones about it.” Surprisingly, the man chuckled at him. “i kinda wanted to see the stars. other than that?” He shrugged, it wasn’t like he’d ever really had a plan for his life. Maybe try to get a job? That didn’t seem likely.

“So not like, stealing the souls of humans or anything per say.” There was an annoyed sort of amusement behind Willy’s voice. Sans grinned at the humor.

“we already broke the barrier, why would i need a human soul?”

“Eh, it’s a question the boss told me to ask. Gotta look out for the human citizens and all.” The officer shuffled the papers again. “What is your relation to the other monsters here?”

“papyrus, the other skeleton is my little brother. frisk is my friend, so are the other monsters.”

“Where are your parents? You’re a kid, right?” Sans looked to the side, suddenly fascinated by the corner of the room.

“yeah, pap and i are kids.”

“So... Parents?” Reluctant to answer, Sans paused for a long moment. He really probably shouldn’t lie.

“don’t got ‘em.”

“You’re orphans!? Do the other monsters know that?” Concern was clear in the man’s voice.

“no, it’d be nice if you don’t tell them either.”

“Why?” He frowned, Asgore had been so happy to have Frisk potentially be his kid, surely he wouldn’t mind taking in more.

“because. pap and i can handle ourselves.” Sans was annoyed that this didn’t seem to satisfy the man’s need for an answer, but he moved on.

“Alright, well there’s a lot to be done for monsters to live up here, but is this something you want to pursue?”

“yeah.”

“It won’t be easy. Humans probably won’t like it.”

“ ‘m aware.”

“Then you’re a smart kid. Try not to cause trouble.” Willy stood and knocked on the door and Dupoir walked back in.

“Ya’ ready to go back to your cell, kid?”

“sure.” They walked in silence, Sans deep in thought. Did he really want to move to the surface? He already told Frisk they would. It’s not like there were caves to find shelter in up here in town, but surely they could find somewhere to rest? They passed by Undyne and Alphys’s cell again, he noticed only a very pissed Undyne sat in there. He made eye contact with her and nodded, a bit of relief filled her features at the sight of him. When they made it back to the cell, he had a moment of panic when he saw Papyrus wasn’t there waiting for him. It seemed a lot bigger in there without the little guy. Dupoir seemed to read this and set a hand on his shoulder before unlocking his cuffs.

“They’re just questioning him like you, he’ll be back soon.” That did little to calm Sans down, but he nodded anyway.

“thanks.”

“No prob, kid. It’ll be rough for you folks, know that if you need help you can stop in here any time.” The door locked behind Dupoir, as soon as he was out of sight he went over to the bars and yelled down to Undyne.

“undyne?”

“Yeah?” She called back, almost sounding like he’d woken her up.

“you okay?”

“Should be asking you that, punk. I'm good, just a little bruised up. Nothing I wouldn’t have done to a struggling human.”

“oh, ok. you can go back to sleep if you want.” He could hear her chuckle.

“Thanks for the permission.”

________________________________

 

It wasn’t too long before Papyrus came back, chatting cheerily with the woman leading him down the hall. She quickly undid his cuffs after opening the door and bid him a goodbye, shooting Sans a gentle smile as well before leaving. Papyrus immediately grabbed for Sans’s head, he winced in response.

“jeez, bro, careful there.”

“Sorry! I’m just worried. I’m no good at green magic...” Papyrus let go the moment he thought he was hurting Sans. 

“it’s alright paps, just sit down. did they tell you anything about when we would be able to leave here?” They were both getting antsy, it wasn’t like anyone had ever restricted where they could roam before. 

“No, but they were very nice!! Much nicer than the guardsmen that brought us here.”

“that’s good, they were nicer to me too.” Internally, Sans let out a relieved sigh. He’d have some serious talking to do if they’d hurt Papyrus, but the lady that brought him in had seemed nice.

“I think they were just scared! It’s not like humans can use magic, after all!”

“probably, bro.” They sat beside each other against the wall, Sans picked at his hoodie sleeves idly. They were tearing at the seams due to how much he practiced the nervous habit. Time passed, eventually the lights of the cell and the hall flipped off and the boys moved to their cot. Sleep sounded good, even to the ever energetic Papyrus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta Reader: belzarvie.tumblr.com
> 
> Me: undertaletrashbin.tumblr.com
> 
> Kudos and comment? Eh?


	3. Open Ended

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New New Home is a new new life.  
> i feel like there would be jokes about mew mew kissy cutie too like "new new" and "mew mew" are too close to be coincidence i'm sure alphys had a hand in this what the hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is mostly un beta-ed due to the busy life of my good ol' beta reader. she's da best and she's havin a hard pet day my thoughts go to her chickens today.
> 
> Anywho! There's a lot of ways I could have gone with this soooo a few notes about this AU!:
> 
> If Frisk had done a genocide run it wouldn’t have just been Sans at the end but Papyrus. Papyrus would fight them first, half heartedly and trying to MERCY them the whole way. If the player kills them, then Sans would immediately step in with no time for the human to heal up or get more food. HOWEVER, due to the fact that he’s just a kid the battle wouldn’t be nearly as hard especially because the ‘poison’ technique he uses in the battle he didn’t know yet (not to spoil some of what happens in this little fic). He does have the blasters though and he would be fueled with just as much anger and vengeance as in the canon undertale timeline.  
> Just some interesting stuff I thought out! Originally I was gonna rewrite some of the events that change in the canon timeline with this au, such as the Papyrus date and things but it was really boring lmao. If you want me to talk more about the differences or have questions though shoot them at me on tumblr at undertaletrashbin.tumblr.com, I am gonna start a new tag on there under “MSA” for stuff pertaining to this au c:

The next day the group was released, but was promptly escorted back to the underground. They were informed it would take time for the humans to adjust to the idea of their existence, but Undyne called bull on that. It was more about informing the public and getting the government on board, it wasn’t like the monsters could just be set loose into a city of humans and expect to be welcomed warm heartedly. Frisk, Asgore, and Undyne were given special permission to remain on the surface, though it wasn’t exactly fun. They mostly worked on preparing the new section of the city and getting it segregated off properly. It helped a lot that gold was more than capable for paying off the few humans that lived on the side of the city, but there were those that were reluctant to move nonetheless. And thus, six full months later, the large city of New New Home was officially open to permanent resident monsters. This first settling on the surface was certainly not the utopia that everyone had hoped it would be, and no one was more privy to that than the tiny skeleton brothers.

 

The sunlight was pleasant in the early morning, the skeleton brothers, one groggier than the other, pulled themselves out of the cave for what they hoped would be the last time. Today was the third day that monsters moved from the Underground to their new city, and as much as Sans would love to just teleport them there, he hadn’t even been to the city yet. A monster sat at a small table just outside of the exit, they looked catlike and maybe a teenager? Oddly enough they were fast asleep, Sans knew the feeling. The boys took a few steps forward, hoping not to wake the sleeping monster. Apparently they hadn’t snuck quietly enough, because his eyes shot open.

“HAH.” Both boys jumped, Papyrus let out a high pitched squeak in surprise and hid behind his brother. “Thought ya’ could sneak down without talkin’ to good ol’ Burgerpants, did ya’?” Papyrus’s eyes darted back and forth guiltily. “You need one of these card things or you could be arrested. Here, one each.” He handed a card to each boy, and they sighed in relief.

“thanks.”

“No problem, little buddy. Come back anytime. Ugh.” The cat was already heading back to sleep, leaning his head in his paw. Papyrus giggled and pocketed his card before grabbing Sans’s hand, skipping down the trail.

“He’s a lazybones just like you!”

“nah, bro, he’s a lazy cat.” Sans winked, happily walking down the mountain. There was supposedly a busing service at the bottom to escort all monsters to the town, hopefully it wouldn’t cost much. Emotions flashed over Papyrus’s face at the comment and he landed on disgust.

“I DIDN’T REALIZE THAT WAS A PUN! UGH.”

“really?” Sans was laughing, hard. He rubbed a tear out of his eye. “bro, you’ve been saying that forever.”

“I know!” The pout Papyrus gave was endearing. “I’ll just forget I learned it was one.”

“aw nooooo. you don’t want to join the party? it’s a little bonely there when you have  _ nobody  _ to go with.” Papyrus positively  _ threw  _ his brother’s hand down in annoyance, taking a short step away from him,

“SANS!!!”

“what? you don’t find me humerus? tibia honest my humor is only rivaled by Tori’s! But even hers can be so baaaah-d.”

“STOP!!”

“what are you going to do? leaf?” That one was a stretch, but he held up a leaf for emphasis. Papyrus stomped ahead, doing his best to hide his smile.

“AUGGHGGHHG! YOU’RE THE WORST.”

“don’t run off bro you’ll get lost!” Sans shouted between giggles, leisurely following his brother down the mountain. Paps waited a moment for him to catch up.

“The surface should be free of puns!!”

“like the monsters are now free from the underground?” The younger shot him a suspicious look before nodding.

“Precisely!”

“hate to break it to ya but with Tori around the puns will never end.”

“AGH! Then I will just have to tape your mouths shut.” The mischievous glint in Papyrus’s eye was a bit alarming, and Sans grinned at him.

“good luck catching me!” The chase was on. Just as Papyrus dove for his brother he teleported away, within sight of where he had been on the trail.

“SHORTCUTS ARE CHEATING!” The younger roared, rushing down towards him. This was a debate the two had had many a time; was it cheating to shortcut during tag? What about hide and seek? As much as Papyrus insisted it was, Sans didn’t think so.

“It’s not cheating if the game lets you do it!”

“THAT LOGIC ONLY WORKS IN MARIO KART!” Just as it seemed like Papyrus might grab him, he teleported further down again. “SANS!!!!”

“gotta keep up bro!” They ended up travelling the whole way down the mountain like that. Papyrus would rush down faster than a kid probably should be able to run and Sans would teleport away at the nick of time. It was infuriating, especially the taunting puns the older dropped when Pap seemed to be ready to give up, but they had to stop at some point. Interestingly enough it was Sans who was more exhausted by the time they rested near the road in wat of the bus.

Papyrus’s irritation died down when Sans thankfully promised to stop the pun attack temporarily. No doubt he’d be bombarded later on, but for now at least he was free. The bus took a little while to arrive, several other monsters made it down the mountain by then as well. Certainly not enough to crowd the oversized bus that pulled up, but each of the monsters seemed to have suitcases upon suitcases of stuff. Their lack of suitcases got weird looks sent their way, but that could have been because they were unaccompanied children as well. Sans gave Papyrus the window seat and the younger spent every second of the ride on his knees peering out of it. On the other hand, Sans had slipped into a shallow sleep, exhausted because they had been eager to catch the early bus. The hills flowed by, it was hard to wrap your mind around so much space. The ride really wasn’t that long and it was only when they made it into the human town that Sans shot awake to yank Papyrus down by the scarf. Moments later an egg splattering against the window accompanied by some crude yelling of slurs they hadn’t even known existed. Sans cringed, but Papyrus just seemed to block it out.

“Wowie, Sans!” He remarked, already gluing himself to the window again. “It’s not like it would have hit me!”

“I know, jus’ scared me.” The older brother resigned himself to awakeness and sat straighter. Despite the bus now being covered in various (disgusting) food items, they were nearly in the city. Sans knew to be more aware as they drove through the empty and abandoned part of the city, keeping his eyes alert as they darted between the many alleyways. Monsters hadn’t settled this close to the human side out of fear, but also because Toriel had put a lot of emphasis on how it could make them seem more menacing than they intended. To Sans, it looked like the perfect secluded area to settle; no one could accidentally stumble upon them that way. There was a time when he and Pap had lived in the Capital underground, but there were too many close calls to being caught and monsters somehow seemed to be a bit less caring there. Waterall was a perfect inbetween, plenty of caves to snuggle up in but not too cold or too hot like the surrounding Snowdin and Hotland.

Papyrus was blissfully ignorant of his brother’s calculating, simply in awe of the city. Before making it into the more populated suburbs, the bus came to a halt. Monsters piled out like a stampede, all eager to see their new (new) homes for themselves. Sans kept the bouncing Papyrus waiting until almost everyone else was off, quickly snatching the younger’s hand before leading him off. Before hopping down the stairs, Papyrus eagerly thanked the human bus driver. They nodded to him with the hint of a smile, but Sans was more concerned about what was going on outside of the bus. Undyne stood a few paces ahead, stamping the small cards Burgerpants had given them earlier. Excitedly, Papyrus rushed over to her, but Sans’s breath caught. Surely she would be suspicious of the lack of supervision? He was already formulating a lie as he walked as slowly as possible over to her.

“-u finally made it up here, huh punk?!” She was grinning broadly, taking the younger brother’s card to stamp.  _ she looks as exhausted as i feel, _ Sans noted. No wonder, after the little police excursion Undyne had to  _ work  _ with the human guards that had bruised her.

“YES!! It’s so exciting, Sans and I- Sans?” As if reminded of his brother’s existence he turned about rapidly, only calming down when he snatched the other’s hand again.

“no need to  _ flounder _ for me, bro.” Sans winked at Undyne, only prompting an eye roll.

“UGH. WE TALKED ABOUT THIS.”

“yeah but that was a halibut ago and this is now.”

“SANS STOP.”

“ok.” The older brother couldn’t help but giggle anyway. There were so many good fish puns, his brother was really restricting him this way. He’d shoot a couple more off to Toriel later, at least she appreciated his humor. Sans handed his card to Undyne after she finished with Papyrus’s.

“Where are your guys’s parents? Did they not come with you?”

“UHM WE-”

“nah.” The two spoke at the same time and exchanged somewhat nervous looks. “they uh, they had to come up before us to get everything settled, y’know?” Reluctantly, Undyne nodded.

“Seems to be happening a lot actually, couldn’t they have found a babysitter or something for you two though?”

“they did, they said “Sans you’re in charge and pun your baby brother to no ends”.” He put on a voice, and Papyrus looked horrified.

“THEY DID NOT! AS IF THEY WOULD PUT THE LESS RESPONSIBLE CHILD IN CHARGE ANYWAY!!” Undyne snorted.

“Well as much as I’d love to chat with you two all day, I gotta get back to the line. If you get lost don’t hesitate to call!”

“OOPSIE DOOPSIE! Sorry!” Paps apologised to the very patient elderly monster behind them. The monster just smiled and said it was no problem as they walked off. “Bye Undyne!!”

“later.”

“See ya’ punks!”

It took a few moments for Sans to pinpoint where they were, but it helped when he noticed who was bustling about the street they were on. A familiar eight armed monster was struggling to pick up a few boxes outside a cute little store front, and the two walked over.

“need a hand?” Sans grinned when she spun to look at them, sighing with a bit of relief.

“Ahuhuhu! You should really be quite careful with sneaking up one people, dearie.” Sans just shrugged, Papyrus bopped him on the shoulder. “And, actually, I could use your help.”

“Sorry Muffy! We didn’t mean to scare you!” Papyrus was quite apologetic, frowning slightly. The older of the brothers wasn’t as concerned about the small fright they’d given the monster.

“ooh i’m always willing to help, is cake in the deal?”

“Hmm, I suppose it could be for today depending on how helpful you really are!” Usually Muffet wasn’t one that Sans would do anything other than beg for cake to, the lady was stingy about paying for help of any sort, but it was possible that she was feeling generous due to the good spirits all around. Papyrus bent down to grab a box, but Sans stopped him.

“i got this bro, you go find frisk and hang out with them. i’m sure they’ll be so happy to see you!” Paps gasped, eyes lighting up at the mention of his newest friend. The expression was quickly interrupted by a sharp frown.

“You don’t think they’ve forgotten about me yet, do you?!”

“no way-” hup “-bro.” The reassurance was interrupted by Sans lifting a box, having to use a bit of blue magic to make it easier. Dang, Muffet wasn’t kidding about needing a bit of help. What were in these things? Chairs? And entire house?

“Then I’ll meet you back here later!! See you soon, brother!” Papyrus wrapped his arms around his brother in a quick and tight hug before skipping off, elated to see his friend after a few days apart. Sans followed Muffet into her shop, careful not to step on any of the spider scuttling about. The monster noticed the blue tinge of the box and her eyes widened a bit.

“Oh! You can use blue magic, Sans? I would have never pinned you for the type who could use such skilled magic~ That will make this much easier!” Blue magic had two different main uses, inside battle turning your own weapons blue manipulates how they interact with SOULs, but the second type of blue magic could be used to play with gravity. This second type was certainly more rare and took a lot of magic to be able to pull off, but it came to the skeleton brothers pretty naturally. It was good for saving steep falls or for running away and vaulting over things.

“ ‘s not like i can move everything in on my own, though.” Sans said with a slight pout. He didn’t really want to admit how much the skill could wear him out, especially when he hadn’t had anything to eat today and most of the boxes weighed more than he did. Muffet gave him an interested look, curious.

“Have you ever tried purple magic before?” Sans blinked in confusion, then shrugged.

“not really, how would that help though?” With a chuckle Muffet waved it off and went back outside, Sans on her heels.

“It wouldn’t, I’m just curious dearie. There are so few of us purple magic users and sometimes you can teach others.”

“sounds like a lot of work.” He huffed, leaning down to pick up a smaller box.

“Is that not what you’re doing now?”

“this is different.”

“Hm~ If you say so. If you’re ever interested though, stop by. I am a bit concerned that it will become a lost magic if I die.” It seemed a bit uncharacteristic for Muffet to be concerned about others’ wellbeing after her own death, but Sans just nodded.

“maybe.” They went back to work, Sans charming the boxes that were a bit too much for the two of them. Only when lunchtime rolled around did they stop, Muffet kindly providing a little pastry and cider for the skeleton.

“You know, the boxes are pretty much safely inside, I could probably spare some time to spar a bit.” Sans shrugged and sipped the spider cider.

“if you wanna. ‘s not like i have anything better to do.” That was a lie. He had a million different things he could do, finding shelter for him and Papyrus, helping people who might drop him some gold, but for once he felt a bit selfish. Purple magic sounded like it could be fun. “oh, i do only have one hp though so be careful i guess?” The shocked look she gave him was a bit satisfying.

“Really?”

“yup.” The two stood and exited the new building, not wanting to damage any of the fresh walls or Muffet’s items in the crossfire of the sparring match. The street was somewhat busy, bustling with other store owning monsters setting up shop. Sans noted that Grillby seemed to have arrived at the very end of the street with a much larger collection of boxes than some of the other owners, maybe he could stop by there to help later. Muffet pulled his attention back to her with a question.

“So how do you visualize blue magic?” The blank look he gave her was telling of just how naturally blue magic came to him. “How does it feel to use? Like, what do you think about to get it to work?”

“uhhh... i guess kinda heavy?” She nodded, waving for him to continue. “maybe cold? like you’re being weighed down, uhm i’m not sure, is that good enough?”

“Mm,” She giggled at his struggles, and he flushed in embarrassment, “That’ll do for now, ahuhu. Purple magic is kinda heavy feeling too, but almost watery in way. Here, let me show you, purple’s a good look on anyone.” Sans felt his SOUL be pulled out of his chest and be what felt like submerged in magic. And then he felt suspended, kinda trapped. In a way it was, his soul, dyed purple, had a thin string of purple magic flowing through the center of it. He glanced up at Muffet’s face, she hadn’t even broken a sweat. The feeling was definitely strange, like something wasn’t quite right with the soul. It reminded him of feeling sick, actually. Like he had been poisoned. Huh. Something about that clicked with him.

“So~?” She spoke, watching the small monster expectantly.

“it’s kinda cool,” He held back how interested he really was, reaching out to touch his soul, “it feels kinda like poison? can you do that too?” Muffet positively lit up at the connection.

“Ooh! That’s a good comparison, actually~! It slows your movements and doesn’t allow the soul to take the path it normally would. I haven’t tried that before, though.” She hummed thoughtfully, and Sans played with summoning a bone or two. He wasn’t able to give them a full on purple tint, but they did flutter with a different kind of magic. It felt kinda draining. “What do you have there?” Curiosity filled Muffet’s voice as she stared at the small bone he’d made, it didn’t seem to be all that stable. Sans shrugged, holding up the bone for her to see. Her eyes lit up in interest as it seemed to shimmer with purple tones.

“Fling it at me!” The demand was a bit out of the blue(or should he say purple), but he felt nervous. He was about to respond with a protest when he felt a sharp grip on his shoulder.

“ow.” He yelped and brought a hand up to pull the person away, but their grip was iron. Sans recognized the scaly hand, though.

“Muffet, haven’t you heard the new laws up here?” He shot out almost accusingly letting up on Sans’s shoulder after his new attack disintegrated. The boy rubbed pulled away a bt and rubbed at the slight ache throughout his shoulder. Muffet almost seemed to pout, but looked somewhat guilty as well.

“Gerson, it isn’t fair to restrict our magic this way! It’s a part of our self expression, humans don’t understand.”

“Be that as it may, we agreed to make the use of magic illegal as long as they stayed peaceful towards us. It’s temporary.” Finally clued into what was wrong, Sans felt bad.

“oh jeez, what else aren’t we allowed to do?” It came out a bit more as a complaint than he intended, but Gerson overlooked it with a chuckle.

“I’m glad you asked! We’re not allowed to go into the human side of town or exit the city without police escort or permission either, so don’t go sneaking off causing trouble.” The old tortoise narrowed his eyes at Sans. The scrutiny made him a bit uncomfortable and he chuckled a bit, scratching at the back of his head awkwardly. More than once Gerson had caught Sans doing some not quite legal things, but usually out of the need to staying alive on the streets. The monster had provided meals for him and Papyrus more than once. Muffet let out an annoyed huff.

“Well, perhaps we will spar another time, dearie. Let me grab you a cake to go.” She winked at Sans before walking back into the shop. Gerson patted Sans’s head before turning around, Sans wondered briefly if he was going to have a shop on the surface too, but didn’t bother to stop him and ask. Muffet returned with a medium sized cake, and he thanked her genuinely. A cake that size could feed him and Pap for a week or two. The woman still seemed a bit annoyed to have been interrupted in their sparring match and had made him promise to return again sometime, which he undoubtedly would do, whether to beg for food or a job or to actually take her up on a sparring match he didn’t know.

The sun was high in the sky, directly above Sans’s head as he made his way towards Grillby’s new restaurant. It was bland on the outside, he hoped they would be able to bring the sign from the underground and hang it up here because the building’s face could use something like that to spruce it up. His feet came to a stop, he couldn’t even make it to the building’s entrance due to all the boxes and amounts of furniture. (All of which reeked just a bit like alcohol and grease. Ah, home.) Grillby had his back turned to Sans, looking over his boxes with perplextion.

“hey grillbz.” Sans grinned and let out a few giggles when Grillby spun and almost tripped over a box. “need any help?” The elemental let out a sigh and shook his head.

“Nothing you could help with today. Should be having some muscle coming to help out soon.” Sans let out an indignant huff. With that he turned back toward his boxes.

“what? don’t i look strong to you?”

“Mhm, definitely, mister 1 HP, 1 ATK, 1 DEF.”

“wow rude.” Sans just shrugged, though, wasn’t like he needed to gold immediately. In fact, he probably should get to work on sorting out their shelter for the night while Paps was with their friends. “fair enough, can’t make you make me help you.” Grillby just grunted at him in agreement, and he walked off towards the direction the bus had come from. Undyne still sat at the bus stop with an annoyed expression, so he had to use a bit of magic to zip by her unnoticed. He reminded himself of Gerson’s warning but there was no way anyone but humans would be enforcing that. Too many magically charged monsters unable to get rid of excess magic would only be bad news for the humans. Then again, they probably didn’t know that. Nonetheless, Sans wasn’t going to follow such a useless rule when it wasn’t like they could prove he could shortcut anyway.

It was easier than he expected, but then again, it’s not like she probably expected to see monsters walking  _ towards _ the human side of town. Buildings grew closer and closer together through here, taller too. The emptiness of it all was ominous. Sans knew to not wander out too far, though, and after a good few minutes of walking with no monster in sight behind him, he began looking for an alleyway. An inconspicuous one, one that didn’t even really look like it was there from the street.  _ ahah,  _ Sans settled on a small one he would barely even be able to walk side by side with Toriel down. Trash had blown through it that he began to clear out. For tonight, the stars would be their ceiling. As much as Sans looked forward to it, he hoped Grillby would lend him a cardboard box in the future.

The surface may not have been a Utopia that immediately afforded the brothers a family, and it promised much hardship going forward, but the kindness of monsters hadn’t changed. For now, that was all the two were living on. They hoped it would be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So again if you're interested in some picky parts of the au I've left out, go ahead and shoot me some questions on my tumblr at undertaletrashbin.tumblr.com. the "MSA" tag has some stuff on the au already.
> 
> THE NEXT FIC IN THE SERIES. I already have like three chapters written. Should I post chapter 1 today or tomorrow??? hmmmmmm i guess we'll just see c:

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will probably be out tomorrow or the next day idk we'll see friends, we'll see.


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